What would you think if approx' 8% of the school left in one term?

[AngiBolen]

In a 400+ primary.

All children from "nice" families. Some of them being children of governors, teachers and TA's who work in the school?

(8% is my approximation - I know 14 children left last week, and others have left gradually over the past term)

I know I'm going to struggle to explain this properly, but here goes.

Our head has been in place for 2 years and has made vast improvements for the majority of children. We are now seeing hugely increased applications for places both in yr3 and mid-year.

However, he is also very good at getting rid of "difficult" children and parents. The ones who take up a disproportionate amount of the staff's time. They will get very poor service when they have issues to raise with the school or will be persuaded that the school is not the best place for their child. I don't mean the less bright children or children with SN, he is incredibly supportive of parents who want to work with the school. It's the ones who won't acknowledge that their children's behaviour is mainly influenced by the things they experience at home. The ones who are constantly using the staff's time over minor issues, the ones who are inclined to report a playground spat to the police (more than you could ever imagine!)

Initially I thought it was terrible, but his primary concern is the welfare of the whole school, all the children and staff. Losing these families does benefit the remaining ones.

So, we have lost a lot of children over the last 12 months, not many that will be missed. You can make up your own minds as to whether that's a good thing or not, I'm still not sure.

A move before 2015 isn't really an option for various reasons. (TBH, there are no local schools with places which are any better - I will be also driving out to a village for a decent school)

I think for now my best bet is to ensure DD's lack of progress isn't ignored.

Did the Ofsted highlight lack of progress, out of interest?

Gales - I don't think that's the case here. The children leaving are the best behaved, and the ones who tend to be achieving better than others, from what I can tell.

Yes, the OFSTED did highlight lack of progress, YellowandGreenandRedandBlue especially among the more able children. (DD doesn't come into this category)

That sounds like your answer then. I would really think about moving. If no places currently, maybe apply so you have options in a bit, just in case.

Get yourself onto waiting lists.

I considered moving DD last year from her current school - which had served DS extremely well - due to lack of progress under a particular teacher. I researched alternatives, and had all the information and forms ready to go should this year's teacher allocation have been unfavourable (two form entry school, one form has consistently had the 'rub of the green' with good tachers, culminating in a great Y4 teacher for 1 class and a total disaster for the other). In parallel, I had a very 'full and frank' discussion with the head.

As it happened, the Y5 teacher allocation was great, and I did not have to put my plans into action (they would have involved sitting on waiting lists for a while). However, just feeling that I 'had a Plan B', and school knowing that I had a Plan B, was empowering for me and I suspect something of a spur for the school, as DD is [without boasting] the type of child the school would prefer not to lose.

I hadn't even considered waiting lists. Will the LA tell me which schools have places and which don't?

Phone the schools themselves and ask. They may have a space in the year group you need. Or may know that, for example, Jenny is moving to Devon at the end of the year so a place will be appearing.

Then once you now where you are, contact the LA.

But you do the initial calling to the schools themselves. And don't worry, they keep it confidential!

I e-mailed admissions at the LEA, and got a full list of schools with places available on that day (obviously it will change from day to day). I simply got all those within my (largeish) home town, but I am sure that you could specify a particular radius if you wished.

Certainly in my LA, all in-year admissions are now handled by the LA, not by schools. Schools might be able to give an informal guide to 'typical turnover' - ie 'we don't have a place now but we typically have 1 or 2 children leaving each year so your chances are X', but they now have no formal knowledge of, or involvement in, the admissions process, even in-year.

AngiBolen: what is a poor Ofsted? Is it in SM or "Requires Improvement" like 70% of schools?

Lijkk, I had wondered that as well. If the school is in SM, then it will probably turn around quite rapidly as it will have lots of effeort poured into it from variours quarters.

If it used to be Satisfactory and has stayed still (with the renamed 'Requires Improvement') then that is trickier, as in general schools in that category get left to pull themselves out of the problem - and if this is the second Ofsted at that level, it suggests that they aren't doing that very well (I know from experence how much work it takes to move from the old 'Satisfactory' to 'the new framework's 'Good' ... especially as the latter now looks like the old 'Outstanding').

I would perhaps be tempted to open up a conversation with the Head about how they are addressing the weaknesses identified in the Ofsted report...

Last month DC school has finally climbed out of Satisfactory to Good, honestly I can't see any net gains now about the school compared to 3-4-5-6-7 yrs ago when it was only Satisfactory.

I imagine HT would rather OP went straight to HT to ask hard questions rather than overindulge in speculation, anyway.

The OFSTED is "requires improvement" and the school does seem to be suddenly pulling their finger out and are holding an open day, are letting parents know exactly what is being put in place to improve the school, and are holding a parents meeting with the governors after Easter.

As DS2 was moved into the school in Y2, and is currently in Y5, (in a class of 24 lovely DC, some of whom he's very close to, with a fabulous teacher, IMO) I really don't want to move him, so we won't be moving DD before Sept 2014. Logistically, we just can't have two children in two different primary schools.

My personal unhappyness with the is with DDs class teacher. Fingers crossed for next September! I will be asking to meet with the deputy and class teacher together after Easter, and hopefully sort things out.